Co-authored by Geoffrey Roche On March 10, 2016, the French data protection agency (« CNIL ») pronounced a €100.000 ($111,715) fine against Google Inc. for failure to comply with its formal injunction of May, 2015 ordering the company to extend delisting to all the search engine’s extensions.… Continue Reading

Yesterday, the European Commission announced that EU and US officials had reached an agreement to implement a program known as the EU-US Privacy Shield. Privacy Shield is designed to be the successor to the Safe Harbor program, which the European Court of Justice (CJEU) invalidated last October. The announcement brings some relief to the many … Continue Reading

Companies anxiously watching their calendars to see if a new Safe Harbor program will be introduced before the end of January may get their wish: yesterday, a European Commission official announced that the Commission will inform the European Parliament of the outcome of negotiations for a new Safe Harbor program by Monday, February 1. This … Continue Reading

Now that it’s been approved by the EU Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee, Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (the “GDPR” or the “Regulation”) is well on its way to replacing the 20-year-old Data Protection Directive (the “Directive”) as the EU’s omnibus data protection law. Although it won’t officially become law until it receives the approval of … Continue Reading

Following yesterday’s announcement that European officials had agreed on the language of the EU’s new General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR” or “Regulation”), today the EU Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee approved the text of the GDPR. The GDPR isn’t law yet, as it still needs to be approved by the EU Parliament next month. However, the … Continue Reading

After nearly four years of negotiation and wrangling, European Officials announced yesterday that they had finally reached agreement on the language for the EU’s new General Data Protection Regulation (“Regulation), which will replace the aging 1995 Data Protection Directive (“Directive”). In many ways, the announcement is welcome news as it will harmonize what had become … Continue Reading

Poland’s data protection authority, the Generalny Inspektor Ochrony Danych Osobowych (GIODO), recently issued its opinion on the continued validity of personal data transfers to the US. The opinion comes at a time when nearly every means of legitimizing data transfers from the EU to the US has come under fire: on October 6, the European … Continue Reading

Today, one month after the European Court of Justice decision that invalidated the Safe Harbor framework, the European Commission (the “Commission”) issued a Communication setting forth its position on alternative tools for the lawful transfer of personal data from the EU to the United States. The Commission also stated its objective to conclude negotiations with … Continue Reading

Over the course of the coming weeks, we will examine the various options available to companies in light of the European Court of Justice’s (CJEU) decision invalidating the US-EU Safe Harbor framework, including model contracts, binding corporate rules (BCRs), consent and reliance on derogations. News out of Germany, however, indicates that a one-size-fits all approach … Continue Reading

Just one week after the milestone decision rendered by the CJEU (http://curia.europa.eu/juris/celex.jsf?celex=62014CJ0362&lang1=fr&type=TXT&ancre) to invalidate the Safe Harbor program established 15 years ago between the U.S. and the EU to facilitate the transfer of personal data from the EU to the U.S., a German data protection authority (DPA) issued a position paper where it states that, … Continue Reading

Today, the European Court of Justice (CJEU) invalidated the US-EU Safe Harbor framework, effective immediately. This momentous decision jeopardizes the continued flow of data from Europe to the US. As the Safe Harbor framework has been in place for 15 years and counts more than 4500 companies among its participants, today’s ruling is poised to … Continue Reading

In a non-binding opinion issued on September 23, 2015, an Advocate General for the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) recommended that the ECJ suspend the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor program (“Safe Harbor”) and reexamine whether the Safe Harbor provides adequate protection for personal data of EU citizens. In light of its non-binding nature, the opinion did … Continue Reading

In what may prove to be a major step forward in US-EU privacy relations, the House Judicial Committee approved H.R. 1428, the Judicial Redress Act of 2015, on September 16. If enacted, the bill would allow citizens of “covered countries” to bring civil actions in the US under the Privacy Act of 1974. In effect, … Continue Reading

Privacy and data security professionals worldwide should circle September 1 on their calendars, as it’s the day Russia’s new data localization law goes into effect – and possibly generates major waves far beyond Russian shores. That’s because the law has significant implications for companies that collect personal information from Russian citizens, even if those companies … Continue Reading

A brief rundown of developments in recent weeks in the area of EU data protection law: EU Data Protection Regulation On Monday, June 15, the EU Council (comprised, for purposes of data protection reform, of the justice ministers from each of the EU member states) reached an agreement on a draft data protection regulation, marking … Continue Reading

Last week, Australia became the latest country to pass a mandatory data retention law. The Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment (Data Retention) Bill 2015, which amends Australia’s Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979, requires telecommunications and Internet service providers (ISPs) to store customer metadata for two years. This means that Australian ISPs and telecom providers … Continue Reading

The US-EU Safe Harbor has been back in the news recently as Germany’s data protection commissioners met at the end of January and expressed impatience at the delay in implementing what many view as necessary reforms to the program. The European Court of Justice also recently heard a challenge to Facebook’s reliance on the Safe … Continue Reading

On February 3, 2015, European data protection regulators released the Cookie Sweep Combined Analysis Report analyzing how websites use cookies to collect data from European citizens and highlighting noncompliance with Article 5(3) of the EU’s ePrivacy Directive. Among other requirements, this directive mandates that website operators obtain users’ consent for the use of cookies or … Continue Reading

A few months after the European Court of Justice ruled on May 13, 2014 that search engines are considered personal data controllers under the EU Data Protection Directive of 1995 and, as such, should provide data subjects with a right to be forgotten, a French Tribunal enforced this principle in X & Y v. Google … Continue Reading

In April, Microsoft tried to quash a search warrant from law enforcement agents in the United States (U.S.) that asked the technology company to produce the contents of one of its customer’s emails stored on a server located in Dublin, Ireland. The magistrate court denied Microsoft’s challenge, and Microsoft appealed. On July 31st, the software … Continue Reading

Over the past decade, the EU has made significant technological and legal strides toward the widespread adoption of electronic identification cards. An electronic ID card, or e-ID, serves as a form of secure identification for online transactions – in other words, it provides sufficient verification of an individual’s identity to allow that person to electronically … Continue Reading

According to the French Data Protection Authority’s (“CNIL”) recently issued activity report for 2013, the CNIL was especially busy in 2013. The main topics addressed by the CNIL in 2013 were the creation of a national consumer credit database, the right to be forgotten, the right to refuse cookies, the proposed EU Regulation, and, of … Continue Reading

On July 2, 2014 Singapore’s new Personal Data Protection Act (the “PDPA” or the “Act”)) will go into force, requiring companies that have a physical presence in Singapore to comply with many new data protection obligations under the PDPA. Fortunately, in advance of the Act’s effective date, the Singapore Personal Data Commission has recently promulgated … Continue Reading

This past month, the European Union’s Article 29 Data Protection Working Party (the “Working Party”) issued the Working Document 02/2013 providing new guidance on obtaining consent for cookies (“Working Document”). The Working Document sets forth various mechanisms which can be utilized by websites to obtain consent for the use of cookies in compliance with all … Continue Reading

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